1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a managed retirement fund program in the field of financial securities to generate a stream of income for a pool of seniors as they grow older and, in particular, to a computer software administrated retirement fund program that provides an increasing stream of annual revenue to the survivors in the pool as the investors grow older.
2. Description of Related Art
The United States is experiencing a demographic increase in people reaching the customary retirement age of 65 years old. The group has been named “Baby Boomers.” A chief concern of each senior citizen is to maintain a stream of retirement income until death. For this reason a number of financial programs are now available specifically directed to senior citizens for the purpose of providing steady income during retirement. Steady income throughout retirement years helps prevent retired individuals from becoming financial burdens upon their children should they outlive their assets. However, if retirees rely upon fixed incomes, the possibility exists that inflation will depreciate the fixed incomes to a level that may quickly consume their net worth. In an effort to forego such a possibility, numerous programs have been developed to insure the retirees' continued incomes.
Conventional passbook saving accounts, certificate of deposits, or bond purchases maintained by an individual provide a predictable flow of income but do not provide a procedure for maintaining pace with inflation. Similarly, numerous annuity offerings are made available providing the recipient the right to receive fixed periodic payments either for life or for a term of years. Annuities include bonds, trust contingent, deferred group, joint, life, private, refund, retirement, straight, and variable to name a few. The payments represent a partial return of capital and return of interest. U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,379 issued on Jan. 7, 1997 describes a computer system for managing U.S. treasury bonds for enhancing payments to survivors.
Insurance is a program generally made operative by death providing the beneficiary with proceeds at death. For a couple in retirement, a spouse typically collects the insurance proceeds upon the death of the spouse. Insurance can also be used to provide protection for uncertain costs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,642,768, 4,722,055 and 4,752,877 issued to Roberts disclose methods and apparatus for funding future liability of uncertain costs. The program allows the investor to fund a fairly certain future cost such as a child's college education as well as estimate the expected cost of the liability, when the liability will incur, and the amount of insurance necessary to cover the liability.
What cannot be predicted is how long an individual will live. Given a group of men all born in the same month and year of certain demographic criteria such as Jan. 1, 1945, if the median average lifespan is 77 years, some will die younger and some may live into their 90's. The computer managed retirement fund is to provide a dependable income stream quarterly to those fortunate enough to live well past the median average life span. Therefore, what is needed is a process and system for providing a retired investor with a predictable income as well as a device for providing the individual with a statistical method of increasing that income during the remaining lifetime of the individual.